Thanksgiving Day

In 1621, Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag Indians celebrated an autumn harvest together. This three day event, based on English harvest festivals, became known as the first Thanksgiving. However, the colonists did not call the event Thanksgiving....in fact, the first feast wasn't repeated and wasn't the beginning of a tradition. The term Thanksgiving would have described a religous event as opposed to the secular celebration that was the first Thanksgiving.

• The original autumn harvest feast occurred sometime between September 21 and November 11.
• In 1817, New York State began celebrating Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom.
• In 1863, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln appointed the last Thursday in November as a day of thanksgiving. His choice of day may have been related to the anchoring of the Mayflower on November 21, 1621.
• In 1939, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set the date for Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday of November. The date was approved by the U.S. Congress in 1941.